Monday, February 9, 2015

#BookReview: Highway on my Plate-II: the indian guide to roadside eating by Rocky Singh, Mayur Sharma

On the jacket:

The boys are back!

And this time, they are hungrier than before. Travelling the length and breadth of the country in search for gastronomical perfection, India’s original street food connoisseurs Rocky and Mayur promise to take you on a culinary road trip like no other.

Based on the highly acclaimed NDTV Good Times TV series, this second edition of the book which won the BEST IN THE WORLD Gourmand World Cookbook Award 2012 covers more than two hundred new food joints, over 1500 different food items, and provides indispensable information on the best dhabas and street stalls in the country.

With authentic food reviews, interesting visuals from the show, and even maps for directions, Highway on my Plate-II is the ultimate foodie’s guide to Indian roadside eating.

Review:

I picked this book up over the weekend with a lot of anticipation. And by the end of it, I was left with mixed emotions.

In this book, we get listed the must eat places in all the different states across the country. The states are listed alphabetically. I didn't read the book from cover to cover as should be. Instead, I searched for cities I have lived in and read about the outlets mentioned. Surprisingly, Nagpur doesn't feature in Maharashtra, actually all places mentioned are towards the coast. And! There is no Madhya Pradesh! There are twenty-five states covered in this book. Another thing I noted how in the West Bengal section it is written that Adda is pronounced as Addo which is wrong. At this point, I became a bit wary of what laid ahead.

Nevertheless, as a reader, the book was interesting. Of the states and cities I have never visited, I shall be using this as a guidebook. What was interesting was how the book mentions a bit of something on the side, which increases the know-how about the place/state in general. The introduction to each state and information about their culture, cuisines etc is also very interesting.

There are so many places yet to explore and eat in, what this book made me realise is that there are places I need to eat in even at places I have been to!

Rating: ***.5/5

[This review is for Random House India. The opinions are strictly my own and not been written under any obligation.]